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Google Docs
Have you ever needed to make a document for a group but needed to share it online with that group? Well, Google Docs is a service provided by Google that allows one to create essentially Word documents online and you are able to save and store them online. This allows multiple people to edit a paper at one time, from different lcoations, to collaborate ideas in a simple and efficient manner. Google docs is a powerful and innovative tool that has made collaboration into a breeze, made word documents available from nearly anywhere, and has helped millions to complete projects and papers in an organized fashion. This "cloud-like" idea is the direction of the future and it will be exciting to see what comes next for Google docs. When you sign up for a gmail account through Google, you automatically are able to create and receive Google Docs. Another aspect that makes Google Docs more beneficial than Word documents is that they are a collaborative technology, where multiple people with Google accounts can view and edit the document at the same time. You can also chat through instant messaging or video chat while editing the document. Google Docs is set up just as Microsoft Word, but you just are able to keep your documents in a safer and more collaborative location. Google Docs is a fairly new concept for me, but I am not sure how long it has been applicable. A few student organizations I am involved with use Google Docs to communicate. It it much faster than e-mail, and allows everyone to contribute their input. The Panhellenic Association uses Google Docs for their bi-weekly agendas. The vice president of administration sends all the directors the Google Docs link, and we are able to edit our section directly from the link! I just spoke to a friend about google docs and its functions. My friend lives with 3 other people in an apartment. He told me that they use google docs to sort out their household finances whenever they do grocery shopping. One of them deviced a program in google docs in which finances can be easily sorted out amongst housemates. I found this a very useful tool and I might start using google docs myself. Google docs is an efficient way to share information without having to send hundreds of emails or print hundreds of pages. It also makes group projects run more smoothly and keep people involved in the whole process. I am currently working on a huge research project with a class and we use google docs to share our notes, post outlines, and make sure that we aren't all reviewing the same articles. It's nice to have all of this information in one place that can be constantly updated and also wouldn't fall victim to a computer crash or harddrive problem. Perhaps the best characteristic of it is being able to make changes (sort of like what we are doing here on Wikia) that everyone will be able to see, and edit as well. I personally am a big fan of google docs but I am very Team Google. I own a Droid which is made by Google so my internet exploring as of recently has revolved around Google. However, I have friends who aren't familiar with Google and have had trouble when I sent them something using Google docs. I will say that these friends are particulary incompetent when it comes to technology, but I think that Google docs is best when used from Google to Google accounts. It would probably be best if everyone just converted to Gmail already. Google Docs also allows people to collaborate with one another while creating PowerPoint presentations. I learned this cool feature in one of my past classes. It is especially handy when working on group projects and none of the group members are able to meet. This is way better than everybody just emailing their PowerPoint slides to one person and that one person having to put the whole PowerPoint together.